London
Prince Harry’s yearslong legal battle against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group took an unexpected turn on Wednesday, after the duke settled his case over allegations of unlawful information gathering shortly before the trial was due to get underway.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, described the settlement as “a monumental victory.” He had sued News Group Newspapers (NGN) – publisher of British tabloids The Sun and the now-shuttered News of the World – claiming journalists and private investigators working for the publications had targeted him and his family between 1996 and 2011.
David Sherborne, the duke’s barrister, told London’s High Court on Wednesday that NGN “offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.”
Reading out the full statement on behalf of the defendant, Sherborne said NGN also offered an apology to the royal “for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World.”
NGN also apologized for the impact of the intrusion into the private life of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
NGN said it acknowledged the “distress caused to the duke” as well as the “damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family” and had “agreed to pay him substantial damages.”
Reports have emerged that the settlement for Prince Harry and Watson’s legal action involved an eight-figure sum, which would likely include legal costs as well as damages. A source involved in the case did not refute the figure when asked by .
Proceedings at London’s High Court had been due to start Tuesday morning but were repeatedly delayed after requests by lawyers from both sides. Ahead of the trial, which had been expected to last eight to 10 weeks, the tabloid group has settled 1,300 other claims related to voicemail interception out of court, a spokesperson for the duke’s legal team previously said.
The phone hacking scandal has cost the Murdoch media empire more than £1 billion ($1.24 billion), a 2021 investigation by the industry publication Press Gazette found.
Sherborne, reading a statement on behalf of the duke and fellow claimant, ex-lawmaker and former Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson on Wednesday, said: “In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices.”
Speaking outside court, Sherborne said that the result represented “a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them.”
The lawyer continued: “After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers, including spending more than a billion pounds in payouts and in legal costs, as well as paying off those in the know in order to prevent the full picture from coming out, News UK is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law.”
Harry’s fellow claimant, Watson, who also settled, had alleged that the tabloids engaged in unlawful information gathering and phone hacking between 2009 and 2011.
Watson has previously said he was targeted around the time he was investigating the Murdoch newspapers during a high-profile phone hacking scandal, which led to the 2011 closure of News of the World and forced Murdoch to apologize for phone hacking.
Harry’s barrister also told the court that NGN apologized to his co-claimant Watson, for “unwarranted intrusion carried out into his private life during his time in government by the News of the World during the period 2009- 2011.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
